Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding & Helping Your Partner

I first off want to say that I am dissapointed in some of the reviews I have read regarding this book. The Woman who wrote this book never claimed to be the "Be all, Give all" answer to Bipolar disorder. Bipolar is a broad spectrum illness and while one may suffer from severe manic episodes, another may be depressed all the time. One may spend money wildly, another may have slight irritation. I am speaking from personal experience, as I, my mother and sister all have Bipolar disorder and none of our symptoms are the same. I read a review where one woman was upset about her husband taking away her credit cards because people with bipolar can have spending problems. That doesn't mean everyone with bipolar has spending problems!! If her husband took away her credit cards that sounds like a personal issue in their marriage, and if it is due to one book that he read and not due to characteristics of his wife, then that still sounds like a problem!! What I enjoyed about this book is that it gave me a greater sense of understanding of my mother's erratic behavior, and illness. I have bipolar also, but very mildly so. My mother is extremely manic, and my family and I have spent years being mad about her erratic behavior, spending sprees etc. This book helps to bring you back to a loving place with someone that has this illness. It helps you see that much of the time it is the disease talking and not the person. I am learning to forgive my Mother and recognize her behaviors much better now due to this book. I am coming to a place where I see I can't save her,I can accept who she is, and be more loving about it. If you really care about someone with Bipolar and want to learn how to love them more, I suggest reading this book.

Julie Fast's book is an excellent tool for those who have Bipolar disorder or those living with someone who is Bipolar. This is a difficult subject for me, my girlfriend has Bipolar and we have had a very bumpy road, especially this last year. We still wish to remain together and this book has helped, we read it together. This is probably the most misdiagnosed mental disorder out there. For those who are new to it, it is extremely difficult to get help or find good real information on how to deal with it. We didn't know how to manage Bipolar. There are many people out there who can live with this and have done so for many years, but for most of us it takes a lot of time, understanding, and acceptance that it exists and must be dealt with like any other illness. This book was written in real language by someone who has obviously walked the walk. It has helped me tremendously as I feel it was written for me. This is a book about communication. Chapter eight "The Bipolar Conversation" was very helpful. We often refer back to the book. We understand life will not be easy with Bipolar but we get hope from Julie Fast and many others who suffer from it that you can in fact manage your life with Bipolar and lead a productive life. Thank you very much.

This book was a life saver for our relationship. It gave us a reality check on issues that we were facing and taught us how to deal with them hands on. Before reading this book, I thought that I could deal with Bi-polar in my partner. I had NO idea what that meant. This book was completely honest in the expectations. It was an eye-opener. It helped me realize that Bi-polar is treatable and helped me realize that I wasn't alone. It gives real examples of treatment plans. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has someone in their life with bi-polar (not just a partner) a friend, sibling, parent, child etc. Thank you Julie for taking the time to write this amazing book!

My daughter has bipolar disorder. She was diagnosed at 31 and has struggled with her medications and life style management for years. Her parther bought this book and asked me to read it as well. What a difference this book has made for us! I have so much trouble knowing what mood swing my daughter is having. I can never remember what is what and I always seemed to do the wrong thing to help her. This book has finally given me the tools I need to learn what to do when I see the first signs that she's getting sick. Julie Fast constantly reminds the reader that bipolar is an illness and there is often a pattern to the mood swings. I used to think my daughter was just out of control all of the time. She could never settle down and she was always trying something new to make her life better. I understand this more now. I understand pyschosis more as well as the anger she often has when she's sick. This book has helped us so much. I just never knew whether to leave her alone and let her mess up or to get involved and get her mad at me. Now I have tools and they work. Suicide is my biggest worry, but we now have it out in the open. This helps me with my worry and guilt that I don't or can't do enough to help her. This is a tough illness, but there is hope. Things are a lot less stressful for us now.